The Jeremy Corbyn thread

[Gwylan]

Islington North has been Labour since 1930's with massive majorities.

He won, for the first time, in 1983 by 5000 votes - that is not a massive majority

 

[e77]

He won, for the first time, in 1983 by 5000 votes - that is not a massive majority

Didn't his predeccessor as MP join the SDP, making the 83 election a bit unusual?

 

[Bozza]

He won, for the first time, in 1983 by 5000 votes - that is not a massive majority

A 5,000 majority would be a lot if there were only 6,000 voters. There weren't of course - I'm just highlighting that saying "a 5,000 majority is not massive" is a ridiculous thing to say as it needs to be measured against the total vote. It was a 15% majority. However....

Didn't his predeccessor as MP join the SDP, making the 83 election a bit unusual?

He (Michael O'Halloran) did defect to the SDP, yes. However, he wasn't selected to represent the SDP in 1983 so he ran as an independent Labour candidate and picked up 11% of the vote. Most of those votes would have gone to Corbyn had O'Halloran not stood.

In short: he didn't take on a seat with a small majority, he took on one with a very healthy majority and carried it on. Not that it matters, and I'm not sure why I've wasted my time typing this.

 

[glasfryn]

nor am I

 

[beorhthelm]

nor am I

Bozza saved me typying, the point was that St Corbyn didnt turn a marginal into a safe seat.

 

[Brovion]

Fascinating way of looking at this! The Labour Party was infiltrated by 250,000 odd paying their £3.00 to get Corbyn elected by the then increased membership. That is not quite the situation you are trying to portray.

Eh? It's exactly the situation I'm trying to portray. Maybe it wasn't clear so I'll try and rephrase it. The bald statement 'Corbyn is unelectable' is just plain wrong. The usual response is that people say yeah sure he can appeal to a narrow constituency such as the new members of the Labour party or the people of Islington*, but the country at large (i.e people who don't live in Islington or who aren't members of the Labour party) won't vote for him.

If you look at America that's what people said about Donald Trump, Yeah sure he appealed to a few 'left behinds' in the Rust Belt states, but he wouldn't have enough support to become president. Those people were wrong. I never stated that Corbyn WILL appeal to the country at large, I merely pointed out that those who write people off as 'unelectable' have been proved wrong before.



*And he's been MP for Islington since 1983 so he's won numerous elections over the last 34 years and has increased his majority - and not all the inhabitants of Islington over that period were the new members of the Labour party

 

[Moshe Gariani]

More gross complacency and/or misdirection from the NSC Blue Boys.

We have a "poll" of more than a thousand people making a real voting choice in a traditional Labour area.

The result was that the number of people actually voting Labour went UP by 10%.

Those are the facts.

Despite all of the anti-Corbyn media smearing, when it comes to knocking on doors and getting the vote out there is only one party that is prepared for a General Election. (Clue: It is the biggest political party in Europe and it isn't the Tories.)

Prophetic.

 

[JC Footy Genius]

Remember It's the hope that kills you

 

[Ernest]

It's a shame that the Tories didn't prepare for an election they called

 

[Ernest]

Remember It's the hope that kills you

It's the disappointment that is worst especially when your team is 1/20 favourites to win and find a way to mess it up

#Albionchampions

 

[Napper]

egg on face to all the media and those that follow it.

Corbyn is proving everyone wrong despite the odds and papers being against him all the way.

Refreshing for a politician and the country is waking up

 

[spring hall convert]

That was only for the first election: the £3 membership didn't apply for the second and he won that by an even bigger majority

And if you take the £3 peeps out of the first election, he still polled 49.0% of the members which was more than Cooper and Burnham put together.

http://www.labour.org.uk/blog/entry/results-of-the-labour-leadership-and-deputy-leadership-election

 

[spring hall convert]

One possible result popped into my head earlier today that, while unlikely, is still more likely than makes any logical sense. Let's say the Tories squeak home with a wafer-thin reduced majority, something like 2-3 seats.

The Tory knives would then be out for May, for having called an unnecessary election on a gamble that backfired; Corbyn, meanwhile, would be strengthened by Labour's unexpectedly good showing.

So, we'd have a situation where the victor was was under more pressure to resign than the loser. I'm not sure that's ever happened in British politics before.

As I said, there are a lot of "what ifs" there, and I don't think it's a likely set of circumstances -- but the fact that it's even a possible set of circumstances is really, really weird.

I don't even think it needs to be as close as that. Anything under 50 is a failure, anything under 30 a disaster.

We're not that far off with a week to go. Poll of polls suggests we're in 60-80 territory.

 

[Jim in the West]

It's a shame that the Tories didn't prepare for an election they called

Remember, no Tory MP was aware that an election was going to be called - only May and her two SPADS were in the know

 

[The Birdman]

 

[Moshe Gariani]

It seems those who were willing to give Labour £3 just to get the unelectable JC voted in as leader have been converted..! Yesterday the Labour Party made history with the biggest ever day of mass online donations from members (total £400,000) in British politics.

This election campaign has, with only a couple of exceptions, been fought magnificently by Corbyn and his team. They are showing themselves to be clever, strategic, charismatic, well organised and just all round highly competent. It is laughable that anyone should question their fitness for office when compared with the Tory blowhard shambles.

 

[Munkfish]

View attachment 85957

Is that meant to bother me?

 

[Ernest]

Is that meant to bother me?

It bothers someone that they have to waste their time making up a poster full of lies that convinces nobody

 

[jonny.rainbow]

When can we start the 'May - time to go' thread?

 

[Ernest]

When can we start the 'May - time to go' thread?

Boris already polishing his dagger